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Announcing Money Health Central

August 11, 2010 By

money health centralHave you ever looked at the sorry state of personal finance information out there?

Books written by people with absolutely no experience or credentials shoot to the top of the bestseller lists.  Blogs purporting to help solve personal finance problems churn out nothing more than endless streams of coupon codes and affiliate marketing offers.  There’s no end to the crap that consumers get shoveled at them, yet they eat it up.

It’s like the diet industry.  All the late-night informercials are selling pills that do nothing, yet Americans run to their phones at 3am and beg for overnight shipping.  We all know it’s al illusion, yet we buy into it over and over again.

Over the course of approximately 15 years I’ve had the privilege of meeting thousands of people who are over their heads in debt. For many, bankruptcy has been a welcome means of obtaining relief from their debt problems. For others, the federal laws have offered no help.

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Your Bankruptcy Practice, And Defining Success

July 23, 2010 By

Your bankruptcy practice may be successful and you may not know it.  Or it may be a failure and that may elude you.  How can you tell?

Success In Your Bankruptcy PracticeTo some people, success is filing the most bankruptcy cases.  To others, it’s having the largest staff or nicest offices.  But in order to attain success, you need to define what success means to you.

I used to think that success was having a good staff with a specific number of new clients coming through the door each month with money in their hands.  And for a long time, that worked for me.  Until I realized that this wasn’t the definition of success – it was a road to lead me to some pre-conceived notion of what success would feel like.

To be in demand is an ego boost, to be sure.  But at a certain point that demand becomes overwhelming.  Too many clients to see in a day, too much work to do, and too many staff members required in order to get that work done.

In the words of the esteemed business consultant, Notorious B.I.G.:

I don’t know what, they want from me
It’s like the more money we come across
The more problems we see

Sure, you’ve got more clients.  More money.  More staff members buzzing around the hive.  But you’re saying goodnight to your kids from the cell phone as you drive home, exhausted and beaten down.  You can’t remember the last time you didn’t have to work on the weekend.

Success Has A Price, But It Is Pre-Set

You need to realize this one going in.  There’s a cost associated with more clients – in fact, a number of them.  More demands on your time.  More overhead.  Less time for your family and friends.  Less of an ability to concentrate on a particular legal issue before you need to move onto the next client file.

I’m not saying it’s a bad price, but it’s one you need to know before you set yourself onto a particular path.  We each get 24 hours in a day,  7 days in a week.  Into that narrow space we must fit everything, work and personal lives inclusive.  The space does not contract, nor does it expand.  When the time runs out, it’s gone.

For some, the larger practice is the way to go.  It provides a sense of comfort and accomplishment, of safety in numbers.  Take in 3 fewer clients this month and it’s not a big deal.

But for others, the choice is a smaller practice with fewer clients.  This enables the lawyer to focus on a single client’s issues more closely, to investigate every angle, and to work with less overhead.  The loss of a single client may be more disruptive, but chances are that the work thrown off by the others will compensate adequately.

Haggle First – Or Feel Like A Rube Later

You know the price of success at each level, and you know that in order to scale you’ve got to incur a cost.  It’s best to sit down and haggle with yourself to figure out what you’re willing to pay in exchange to attain your goals.  And once you do, it’s purely an arms-length transactions with yourself.

That’s easier said than done, though.  You may not realize the true costs until you’re hip deep in the process of attaining your defined goals.  In that case, remember not to go into debt to yourself.  You’ve agreed to pay up to a certain price, and you’ve got nothing left to play with past that point.  It’s time to scale back until you balance the books.

So tell me – what’s your definition of success?  And what price do you pay in pursuit of that goal?

Photo credit: Jeff Hester (flickr).

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4 Easy Steps To Syndicating Content On JDSupra

June 2, 2010 By

Online legal marketing involves content creation andcontent distribution; doing so enables us to showcase our knowledge and establish trust with our prospective clients.

One of the best content distribution sites for lawyers is JDSupra, run by a team of awesome and smart people who want nothing more than to give you the widest possible exposure for your content. JDSupra is not only highly-trafficked and well-indexed, but the service provides a number of feature-rich Facebook pages and widgets to pump content out far more effectively than would otherwise be possible.

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Bankruptcy Lawyers And Intake Forms

April 28, 2010 By

Bankruptcy Intake Forms Create A Messy DeskBankruptcy lawyers seem to live and die by their intake forms.  This is when we meet the client the first time, assess the situation, and decide whether it makes sense to work together.  Lawyer asks questions, client answers and asks others.  A game of volleyball that can last between 30 minutes and 2 hours depending on the lawyer.

New bankruptcy lawyers often hop on a listserv and ask for everyone to send them copies of their intake forms.  Others buy a set from an online company, and still others use the built-in forms from their software provider.

The result is a set of bankruptcy intake forms ranging from 20-40 pages, thick with legalese and minutiae.  In an effort to avoid problems later, we force our client to do every bit of heavy lifting.  No stone unturned means a stack of intake forms that would make an environmentalist cry.

Our clients, in return, provide us with half-completed intake forms, inaccurate responses, and downright useless disclosures.  We are forced to go through every line and verify the information, or our paralegals do so for us.  We end up wasting our time, our client’s time, and our productivity.

So let’s take stock of the end result.  We spend too much time and are convinced that our clients can’t follow simple directions.  Our clients are bent out of shape because they feel like they’re doing all the work, are confused because of all the jargon in the intake process, and frustrated with a process that was supposed to make their lives easier.

All in all, it’s a gigantic customer service failure.  And the lawyers are to blame.

When you look at your bankruptcy intake forms from the client’s side, you need to focus on collection of information in a way that is as simple as possible for the client.  Anything less leads to bottlenecks and frustration.

You know what you need in order to assess whether you can help someone.  You look at their income, their assets, general debt scenario and their expenses.  Simple.  Beyond that, the documents tell the story better than the client can ever tell it.  Credit card bills, mortgage statements, utility bills – clients can’t fudge the numbers because they’ve got the bills to give you.  Those documents often don’t need to be reviewed during an initial consultation, which should focus on the nitty-gritty of the situation.  We’re talking big picture here, folks.

Get the basics, ask the key questions about preferential transfers and other deal-breakers, then move along.

Out of frustration, I stopped using formal bankruptcy intake sheets about 20 minutes after I started practicing.  Instead, I opt for a simple 6-page questionnaire that is comprised largely of yes/no questions.  The questionnaire itself is fairly useless to most lawyers unless they understand my entire bankruptcy intake process.  It’s a fact-finding tour that includes an opportunity to learn about my prospective client, nothing more.  I don’t need to dig through the credit card bills and every pay stub to make an educated decision on whether I can help.

Having your client’s handwriting on the intakes forms does not “cover you” in case of error.

You’re probably thinking that the intake forms give you some sort of malpractice coverage.  The reality is that isn’t the case.  The intake forms are wrong, they’re garbage.  If you’re concerned about accuracy and a little bit of CYA then I suggest having your client review each page of the completed petition, schedules and related documents; get initials on each page once reviewed.  In case of trouble, there’s your CYA right there.  And it’s as accurate as you can possibly make it, as opposed to the intake forms.

What’s the end result?  A simple, clean process that makes it easier for a consumer to do business with my firm.  By removing the barriers to entry I am faced with a more relaxed and forthcoming client, someone who is happy to work with me.  The work involved in sorting through the documents provided is no greater than the arduous task of deconstructing an improperly completed bankruptcy intake package.

Think about your client, balance it against the information you need to make an assessment of the situation, and go from there.  Concentrate on the relationship and make it easier to work with you.

Photo courtesy of yatoobin.
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5 Tips To Maximize Your NACBA Convention Experience

April 27, 2010 By

Susanne Robicsek and Jay FleischmanWhy go to a NACBA convention?  You can get the sessions on tape, pick up the materials and generally get the meat of all of the sessions.  But is that the real reason you go to these things?

This coming weeked in San Francisco the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys will be holding their annual convention in San Francisco.  There’s a good chance that you’ll be there if you’re a consumer bankruptcy attorney.

I’m excited to go to the convention this year, as I am each year.  Not only because I’m going to be speaking and moderating a panel on violations of the automatic stay and discharge injunction with Chuck Newton and Pete Barry (though that’s going to be very cool and informative), and not because of the infamous listserv party I am organizing with the folks at Hummingbird Credit Counseling (once again tons of fun).

The real reason I go to the NACBA convention is what goes on outside of the sessions.

Recently I listened to an episode of Media Hacks where this was called (by CC Chapman, I think), “Hallway Magic.”

Think about it for a minute.  You travel across the country to go to a high-priced location, leaving your business and your family for a beautiful springtime weekend.  You spend a ton of money on the convention, airfare, food, hotel and what-not.

The hallways are where the action is.  It’s where we bump into one another, catch up, shake hands, and connect in real life.  We trade war stories, share tips for handling difficult situations, and gain guidance on a bunch of different levels.  You realize you’re not alone in what you do.

You can’t get that out of a book, and you can’t even get it online.  You need that real-time interaction, that connection with your colleagues.  So here are my 5 tips on making the most of the NACBA convention.

  1. Dress For Comfort. Little known fact for NACBA newbies is that we don’t dress to impress – we dress for comfort.  Some of us wear loud Hawaiian shirts (a certain Detroit bankruptcy lawyer) or shorts.  As for me, I’ve been forced to retire my faded Napster t-shirt.  If you put on a suit for any part of the weekend we will think you’re from the federal government and are looking for people to randomly audit.
  2. State Breakfast. Saturday morning will be a breakfast held to bring the members in each state together.  Tables are set up with placards showing your state name, and your colleagues will be there to chat.  Be there.  Introduce yourself.  Sit down and make some local friends – you never know when you’re going to need coverage in court, or be in a position to help a colleague with a last-minute problem.
  3. Pick A Good Table. Every year it’s the same thing.  People show up, dump their stuff at a chair, and then disappear.  Don’t do that.  Pick a table and introduce yourself to the rest of the people there.  Ask them where they practice, what kind of bankruptcy work they do, and learn about them.  We all do the same thing, so why not take the time to learn about how others get their work done?
  4. Stop And Say Hello. If you see someone you recognize, stop them and say hi.  Bankruptcy lawyers are some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met, and none of them has such a big ego as to require you to bow and kiss their ring.  We all want to help one another, and there’s no better way to form a connection than to show your face.
  5. Hit the Hotel Bar At Night. Even if you don’t drink, there are always groups of us hanging out in the hotel bar during the evenings after dinner.  Find an empty seat, introduce yourself and join the fun.

The bottom line is this – the real reason to be at the NACBA convention is what you learn from people in the trenches just like you.  We all face the same problems, but operate largely in our own little worlds.  Getting together and making a connection are the best ways to ensure your continued success as a consumer bankruptcy lawyer.

By the way, remember to enter the contest to win a copy of The Whuffie Factor by clicking here!

The picture of me and Charlotte bankruptcy lawyer Susanne Robicsek was taken by Sara Harrington.

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4 Tips For Marketing Your Bankruptcy Practice With Craigslist

March 30, 2010 By

Marketing your bankruptcy practice is never easy, online or offline.  No matter what the world thinks, our margins are small when it comes to operating our law firms.  Every dollar out must have a positive impact on the bottom line or it’s wasted.

In the past I’ve talked about using Craigslist for legal marketing purposes, and it seems as if it’s a hot topic.  Given the fact that there’s so much competition in the field right now, this is a good time to revisit the zero-cost marketing game that is Craigslist.

Here, then are my 4 Tips For Marketing Your Bankruptcy Practice With Craigslist:

1.  Choose Your Headlines Wisely. In reviewing the ads showing up at the top of the section today, you can easily see that none of the headlines really grab you by the throat and force you to take notice:

Craigslist Headlines

In fact … well, there are no headlines.  Huge mistake.

Remember, people who read ads scan them for what looks the most interesting.  You need to ask a provocative question, tantalize the reader, or make a bold promise that will encourage them to click on the ad.  If they don’t click, they don’t call.  Period.

2.  Format Your Ads For Greater Effect. Sure, you can use Craigslist as a purely text-based medium.  In fact, it’s just like the old classified ads that lawyers used to buy in the newspapers and Pennysaver papers.  But did you know you can easily use a graphic ad for your Craigslist posting?  Check this one out:

Marketing A Bankruptcy Law Office With Craigslist

The ad could be improved but the fact remains that this one is a heck of a lot more effective than a straight text ad, seen here:

Boston Bankruptcy Lawyer On Craigslist

Does this ad work?  I’m not sure (I don’t know the lawyer who posted it) but I’m going to guess that it’s not nearly as effective as what the first firm did.  Just think – for a few hundred dollars you could get yourself not one, but a number of professionally-designed graphic ads to really make your firm stand out.

3.  Remember that it’s not about you. As with any type of legal marketing, the focus should always be on the prospective client.  Most lawyers suffer from an overabundance of “I” and “we” – and that fails to answer the key question of, “What’s in it for me?”  Phrase your ad in a way that answers this critical question for greater effectiveness.

4.  Make A Non-Threatening Call To Action. Your prospective clients want nothing less than to come to your office to talk about bankruptcy.  Going to a lawyer is scary, and making a bankruptcy consultation appointment isn’t going to happen until they actually make a decision to file.  Craigslist visitors tend to be more in the information-gathering phase, so a call to action that involves a lead generation piece is going to be most effective.

Have you advertised on Craigslist for your bankruptcy practice?  What’s worked for you?  Sound off in the comments below!

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5 Reasons Why I Educate My “Competition”

March 16, 2010 By

One of my readers sent me a question a few weeks ago, asking me if I wasn’t worried that I was educating my competition on the ways of online legal marketing and the use of social media in the legal profession.

The simple answer is that I’m not concerned in the least bit.  But real life is seldom simple, so here are my 5 reasons why I want my competition to know all about online legal marketing:

  1. The Prospective Client is More Important Than The Lawyer: I want my prospective clients to walk in the door filled with the right information about bankruptcy, not some mumbo-jumbo they’ve picked up from a talking head on TV.  If they’re properly educated then I don’t need to spend hours swimming upstream.  In fact, a local bankruptcy lawyer on Long Island writes an excellent blog to which I refer clients all the time.
  2. My Clients Are Different Than Yours: You read that last sentence right – I send my clients to another local lawyer for his insights when I don’t have a piece of content at the ready.  Doing this isn’t a big deal to me because I know my clients, and everything I do is specifically targeted towards a single client persona.  My client can read another local lawyer’s blog and think, “That’s interesting,” but it won’t connect with them to the extent that mine will.  So, too, my blog won’t connect with a client who doesn’t fit my target client persona.  My legal marketing efforts target my clients only, and not the people who may not fit my client profile.
  3. There’s Enough Work To Go Around: Let’s face it – my law firm couldn’t handle every single bankruptcy case in New York if we wanted to.  Impossible.  I could use every legal marketing tool in my arsenal (and I often do), but I’m not so interested in filing 25,000 bankruptcy cases per quarter in New York City.
  4. Collaboration Instead Of Competition: I’m not giving up any trade secrets on this blog or on any other for which I write.  I’m discussing my thoughts on where we’re going in online legal marketing and sharing tips I’ve picked up over the years and tested for my benefit.  If someone local wants to take the time to read and implement it, so much the better.
  5. A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: If what I do here can lift the access to quality information to consumers in New York (where I practice) and teach lawyers how to connect with people on a human level then we’ll all be able to do better – better work for our clients, a better job at being lawyers, a better outcome for the process.

Maybe it sounds hokey, maybe it’s a little too kumbaya (to borrow a term used by Sonia Simone) and perhaps it doesn’t resonate with you.  If that’s the case, no problem – keep on doing what works for you.

But I urge you to take a step back and consider what I’ve said here, and whether the way the legal profession has evolved (or failed to evolve) in terms of customer service, creating real connections with the public and delivering outstanding service hasn’t been a bit … shall we say, stilted up to now.  Don’t we deserve a new model, a new way to reach potential clients and delivery remarkable results?

This is exactly why I speak at conference all around the country each year, delivering value not only on the topic of legal marketing but also substantive law.  It’s why I sat in a room two years ago and taught 15 of my local colleagues how to handle discharge violations in bankruptcy – a field in which I practice heavily.

If this blog is the model, then so be it.  But I think you’ve all got something within you, some spark that makes you want to educate your local colleagues so that the bar is raised.

Photo of Boalt Hall lecture hall by umjanedoan.

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Bankruptcy Lawyers – Who Do You Support?

February 25, 2010 By

Being a bankruptcy lawyer can be lonely at times, no matter how big your firm is. We toil in relative anonymity, fighting for consumers rather than for big corporations. Our clients get kicked around all the time, and we’re the only ones who actually try to help them.

It’s a thankless job, isn’t it?

That’s why being a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys is so important for those of us in the trenches of consumer debtor work. When new bankruptcy lawyers ask me what they need to do in order to be the best lawyer they can be, I tell them to join NACBA before the sun goes down.

But there’s a difference between being a member and being a supporter.

You can be a member of NACBA (there are over 4,000 of us right now), go to the convention, get active on the listservs and generally soak up all the information there is to be had. You could profit from that knowledge, grow a huge law firm, and be satisfied with your good fortune.

It’s quite another thing to give back. To level the playing field between taking and receiving, to contribute in some way.

Maybe you contribute by adding your knowledge to the listservs, to helping newbies and acting as a sherpa. Maybe you give back by meeting other bankruptcy lawyers in your area and having them join NACBA.

There’s one thing I’d like you to do right now. Personal favor to me, if you will.

Go over to the NACBA website and log into the Member’s Only area. Find the place to contribute to the Amicus Fund. Take the time to give back in a financial way.

Why? Because every year NACBA files amicus briefs in a number of cases that involve big questions of law. Questions that, when answered the right way, make our clients lives – and our practices – easier. These amicus briefs lend the consumer’s voice in a way not otherwise possible.

And without a strong amicus program, the consumer gets drowned out by the lobbyists and big money interests. When that happens, we all lose. Our cause suffers, and so does our client’s life.

No, I’m not getting paid to ask you to give a few dollars. No, the powers-that-be didn’t ask me to get on the soapbox to do this. There’s nothing in it for me except the knowledge that the next time I or any of my colleagues needs help, NACBA will be there.

Go. Now. Give. Thanks.

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